Celebrations are now in full swing for Marie Dressler’s 150th birthday. With many community events to choose from, the Marie Dressler Foundation is working hard to prepare the line up of Hollywood events for everyone to enjoy.
The newest Exhibition “Cobourg’s Sweetheart: Celebrating Marie Dressler” will open at Art Gallery of Northumberland on Saturday, September 8th at 2:00 p.m.
“The Exhibition explores the relationship of the community with Marie Dressler over the past 90 years”, said Rick Miller, President & Chair, Marie Dressler Foundation.
“Through video interviews with community members and displays of historical significance, visitors will better understand the significance of Marie Dressler to Cobourg” added Miller.
Admission to the Exhibition is free thanks to the generosity of community sponsors and continues through to November 10th.
The Exhibition also features special presentations, also free admission, as follows:
September 15 – John Kraus, Musical Director of Northumberland Orchestra & Choir will explore and discuss the idea of music and emotion and its impact in silent movies.
September 23 – Olexander Wlasenko, Curator, Station Gallery will present “Art Deco: High Style for A Jazz Age”, exploring the artistic movement of the age.
September 27 – Antonio Sarmiento, Artistic Director, Capitol Theatre will present “Stage and Cinema: Why Some Work and Some Don’t” exploring the opportunities and challenges of engaging an audience who has seen a stage production with a movie version and vice-versa.
October 4 – Jordan Klapman, professional pianist/composer will present an up-close-andpersonal, talk/musical presentation about his creative approaches to scoring classic silent films.
The next community event, “Women and Hollywood” will be held on Friday, September 14 at the Concert Hall, Victoria Hall. Cari Beauchamp, award-winning documentary film maker, author of six books about early film history, Film Scholar for the Academy of Arts & Sciences and Vanity Fair contributor will talk about the powerful roles of women in front of and behind the cameras in early Hollywood and the importance of communities of women then and now. Her presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. Joining the evening’s agenda will be Matthew Kennedy, film critic and author of “Marie Dressler: A Biography”. Mr. Kennedy will talk about Marie Dressler as a social activist of her time. Both authors will sign books at the conclusion of their talks. A limited supply of books will be on sale at the venue.
“We are very pleased to attract speakers of this caliber to Cobourg”, added Miller. “This promises to be an engaging discussion”. Tickets, priced at $27.50, are limited and are on sale at Concert Hall Box Office, Victoria Hall or at www.mariedressler.ca
Downtown Cobourg features banners encouraging visitors to visit www.mariedressler.ca for information on all “Celebrate Marie Dressler 150” events.
